GMaking a ute face into a dreary game is an art that a politician must master. In France, where the alliance between politics and industry is traditionally closer than elsewhere, it is absolutely conceivable what was achieved in Frankfurt with the friendly support of the mayor and an unenthusiastic industry: the destruction of the IAA. In Paris, the trade fair is called Mondial, it is by no means better off, but the President flanked the efforts, which are still faintly recognizable, with a personal appearance.
Not only that: the evening before, Emmanuel Macron asked the leaders of the industry to come to him, which is why Luca de Meo did not appear at the reception he himself organized with the press. Of course, Renault’s boss goes to the president, as does Carlos Tavares, who runs the Peugeot-Citroën-Opel-Fiat conglomerate Stellantis. Macron listens carefully as industry bosses tell him about their concerns, ranging from raw material costs to energy to inflation. Above all, however, the industry believes that it is being treated unfairly by the regulators in Brussels, in particular by the EU Parliament, i.e. stranglingly regulated, especially in view of the market entry of Chinese brands.
Tavares speaks plain language in his typical way: There is no competitive equality with the Chinese, the door in Europe is wide open, but not in China. The Chinese brands attacked here with low prices, which are probably not cost-covering. At the same time, the industry in this country is being constricted more and more, which cannot go well. “If this continues, okay, we will adjust to it. But then nobody can come and ask what about the jobs.”
World Auto Show
:
Klaa Paris
So there is fire under the roof, the President, who is plagued by strikes and queues in front of the gas stations, feels the injustice that is brewing. There are plans that every citizen should be able to lease a car for 100 euros a month. Renault expects a base price of 25,000 euros for its electric small car R5 planned for the end of 2023. Prerequisite: The raw material costs for lithium or cobalt, for example, do not remain at the current level. Batteries have become 60 to 70 percent more expensive within a year, and they account for around fifty percent of the total cost of an electric car.
Even if the prices drop again, anyone who can do math will notice immediately: the 100 euros a month won’t work either way unless the government opens the subsidy coffers. The debate will hardly be limited to France, in all European countries the costs of individual mobility are outrunning people. “Those who don’t follow the dogmatism with pragmatism will reap social unrest,” warns the Stellantis boss, and then grapples with the Brussels electromobility roadmap. “We cannot go fully electric at this pace because the middle class cannot take it. And you can’t subsidize because you’re subsidizing the Chinese. That would be pure distortion of competition. We have to stop being naïve and stop making industrial policy madness out of ideology.”
The key data of the hottest variant
The fair, which went through despite this general weather situation, is meanwhile exercising its will to persevere, which of course manifests itself in only three moderately filled halls. Renault offers the happiest appearance, where the CEO de Meo speaks of a business trend reversal and makes you want to go back to the future. “We like the car. And we believe that there is no better place to experience the emotion together than at a trade fair,” he says, glancing at an electric Renault 5 that looks refreshingly close to the original. Two engines, 380 hp, 200 km/h, 700 Nm, 3.5 seconds to 100 are the key data of the hottest variant, which “is made for drifting. We want to see him on the Col de Turini,” says rally fan de Meo.
More for day-to-day business, a new R4 should appear in about two years, also electric. However, the concept car looks terribly martial and has nothing more of the angular charm of the gendarme. By 2025, the Renault Group wants to bring 25 new cars. Of course, the market offensive will only really start at the end of 2023 and then gather together. De Meo promises a full portfolio of electric models. There are also full hybrids, i.e. petrol drives supported by an electric motor with a small battery. They are intended to replace diesel engines that can no longer be produced profitably due to emissions regulations.
Microlino shows mini city mobile
The Asian brands represented in Paris are only on the road with electricity anyway, and the constructive entry hurdle is obviously much lower than with a combustion engine. Some are experimenting with hydrogen, also as a replacement cartridge. There are new attempts to make car sharing or sharing your own car palatable, Renault has a kind of Twizy successor for this. Citroën would have a kind of car, too, if the all-French brand were represented on the rather small Stellantis stand. Microlino shows a variant of its mini city mobile.
Dacia, DS, Jeep, Peugeot and Alpine are the names of the other well-known local representatives. Vinfast, Wey, BYD and Ora have come to the Seine with fresh ambitions. Nobody from Germany is there, no VW, no BMW, no Mercedes, no Opel, no Ford. Jaguar, Volvo, Toyota or Mazda are also missing.
Klaa Paris is what Frankfurters call the Heddernheim district, the stronghold of Frankfurt’s carnival. There’s more tinsel there. Will there be another Mondial? We wanted to ask Macron, but his bodyguards wouldn’t let us through.